Although many believe whole-heartedly that culture and fit should be at the heart of almost all recruitment drives, new chatter amongst the HR and talent management industry suggest this is changing. Prioritising cultural fit is becoming almost redundant with priority focussed more towards alternative attributes of a candidate instead.

Companies are experiencing higher employee turnover than ever before, but this is now being partly attributed to professionals desiring shorter assignments rather than a long-term position. This offers an increased opportunity for employers to reap the rewards of multiple highly skilled individuals on a short-term basis, whilst the employee can fulfil their needs to gain a new experience or skill before moving on.

Gig economy

The gig culture is a growing trend, particularly with Millennial workers, which has been closely linked to the demise of the importance of the cultural fit in recruitment. The quest for a more agile way of working aligns with the Millennial way of life and offers increased flexibility and the opportunity to grow and learn at an exponential rate.

For employees who choose to approach employment with the gig-culture attitude will often not value the cultural fit necessity as much as a long-term or permanent employees. This is often due to their tendency to work much shorter assignments, work remotely or off-site frequently and therefore they do not need to ‘belong’ in the same way a long-term employee would.

These types of employees are highly appealing to a lot of companies, as they offer a short-term solution bringing a wealth of knowledge with them, alongside the fact that interim workers often have no investment in the culture, and therefore puts less pressure on the employer to amend their workplace to suit one person.

What is meant by company culture?

The term company culture refers to the company elements which more closely related to ‘the way things are done’. This spans across a multitude of elements and includes the way people address one another, working environment, social interactions, dress code and the perceptions of the business from the outside.

A company culture has become increasingly important to those looking for a long-term position. Company culture can affect employee happiness and determine if an individual believes that they will fit in effectively at that company. Whether the culture is corporate or more relaxed, most job applicants will have a culture ‘type’ in mind prior to securing a new role.

Culture is portrayed to the outside world in a number of ways. Whether this is actively promoting images and employee opinions online or in advertising. Alternatively, company culture is discussed by employees inside and outside of work, whether it is good or bad, and chatter can spread quickly. A company culture, although not so important to the gig economy workers, can be critical to ensuring motivation and ongoing productivity within the workforce. A poor or negative company culture can result in a poorly performing company across the board.